We open this episode with another media round-up, because the news cycle has been busy! There are big stories everywhere, and nearly all of them raise the same unsettling question: who's actually in charge here. Stories and topics discussed include:

• The Guardian coverage on Climate Gentrification and the frustration that much of what we’re now facing could have been mitigated had AB 797 not been vetoed last year. 
• Southern California Edison is suing… everyone. A headline that hit nearly every outlet, prompting the same question from survivors: what does this mean for us? We break down SCE's filing deadline, how responsibility gets shared (or deflected) in mass litigation, and the question everyone is asking — will this slow down settlements?
• Rick Caruso is out as a gubernatorial contender, something Steve covered in his Hot Potato Substack. This opens a bigger conversation. If California is “so great,” why is no one eager to govern it? Who are the real contenders likely to emerge? And what kind of leadership moment is this, really?

We turn local. The Las Flores Water Company Shareholders Meeting, rescheduled to Thursday, January 22. Still no meaningful communication and so many unanswered questions. We discuss the growing concern: are they even competent to manage this moment? Should shareholders organize to force a vote?  Check out Shawna’s Beautiful Altadena Substack post that lays out exactly what has unfolded so far. Shawna is also quoted in this ABC7 story on the meeting. 

Fellow fire survivor Sylvie Andrews’ investigation into the fire response and failed evacuation alerts. Her work uncovers troubling inconsistencies between official statements from leaders, official reports, and what residents actually experienced on the ground.

Shawna shares her ongoing investigation into contaminated soil being moved around Altadena and buried beneath rebuilds, often with little or no oversight. An issue that refuses to go away and may define long-term health outcomes if left unchecked.

And some unexpected changes to the Town Council’s Land Use Committee. 

Small Business Shout-Out: Washington & Hill

This week we’re uplifting several Altadena-adjacent and Altadena-owned businesses anchoring the Washington & Hill corridor including Lavender & Honey, Octavia’s Bookshelf and Woon Kitchen. These businesses continue to show up for the community and deserve our support. Follow them all on Instagram:

• Lavender & Honey @lh_espresso 
• Octavia’s Bookshelf @octavias_bookshelf
• Woon Kitchen @woonkitchen

Note: This episode was recorded Tuesday, January 20, 2026. The podcast takes the week of January 25 off and returns the week of February 1

This episode opens with a media round-up, because there is no shortage of big stories shaping the narrative around Altadena’s recovery. We unpack recent reporting and what it gets right, what it gets wrong, and what’s being oversimplified.

Stories discussed include:

• LA Times: Leaked Memo Reveals California Debated Cutting Wildfire Soil Testing Before Disaster Chiefs Exit. A look at how environmental testing decisions were being debated behind the scenes and what that means for communities now dealing with toxic fallout and incomplete remediation.
• LA Times: Wildfire Victims Decry State Law Protecting Utilities from Cost of Disasters They Cause. We tackle the growing focus on demanding So Cal Edison “pay up” and why chasing a $200,000 payout that will never materialize misses the larger, more urgent reality. The $22B Wildfire Fund while unsavory and emblematic of the deep problems with private, for-profit utilities is currently the only mechanism that will ensure fire survivors are made even remotely whole through legal settlements. The real problem isn’t the fund. It’s private utilities and state and county authorities failing to enforce maintenance standards, safety laws, and accountability before disaster strikes.
• Black Enterprise: Altadena’s Historic Little Red Hen Café Facing Landlord Woes After Devastating Fire. The uncertain future of one of Altadena’s most iconic institutions. Despite donations from Paris Hilton, the 15 Percent Pledge, and a GoFundMe, owner Annisa Shays shares that funding remains the biggest obstacle. We discuss the whiplash of being offered the chance to buy the land, quoted at $500,000 by landowner Perry Bennett, only for the offer to be abruptly withdrawn. 
• CalMatters: How Altadena Businesses Are Trying to Recover from the Eaton Fire. Small businesses still don’t know when, how, or even if they can return. Another reality that threatens to hollow out the community long before homes are rebuilt.

We also dive into Steve’s Friday Stack on homelessness, drawing uncomfortable parallels between that crisis and this one. Over $24 billion spent, fragmented oversight, mismanaged funds, and shockingly little to show for it. Without accountability, transparency, and coordination, even massive spending fails, whether the crisis is homelessness or wildfire recovery.

Small Business Shout-Out: Daz-E Thrift

This week we’re shouting out Daz-E Thrift, which is reopening this weekend — Saturday, January 24. Find them at 2525 N. Lake Avenue and follow their updates and reopening details on their website dazeshop.org

Note: This episode was recorded Tuesday, January 20, 2026. The podcast takes the week of January 25 off and returns the week of February 1

We open this episode with some unexpected news. After the Ashes was named a Spotify 2025 Most Binged Show, a 2025 Marathon Show (listeners stuck with us 75% longer than the average podcast), and a 2025 Instant Hit, with a debut season more popular than 80% of other new podcasts. 

Whoever you are listening out there — thank you. Truly. We're doing this for you. 

From there, we dig into what may be a pivotal moment in the fight for accountability and recovery in Altadena. And yes, this is also the episode where Steve gets his groove back.

This episode explores:

• Assemblyman John Harabedian’s audit of the Eaton Fire response — what it is, what it isnt', and why the other "official" investigations have fallen short
• Whether an audit with subpoena power could finally deliver what fire survivors and advocates have been calling for
• The importance of hearings and what it would mean if this committee exercises its authority to compel testimony
• Early discussion of financial tools and recovery mechanisms that may be coming online
• LA County’s emergency rent relief program for landlords and how (or if) it helps stabilize displaced communities
• The possibility of a revolving loan fund and other capital-based recovery strategies
• A brand-new legislative session. Will it bring new solutions?
• We revisit our conversations around tax reform, including Prop 13, and how structural tax policy could shape recovery, rebuilding, and local government capacity
• Finally, we explore the bigger-picture questions ahead — Opportunity Zones, recovery incentives, and whether policy will finally meet the scale of the problem

It's worth noting that the day after we recorded this episode, the Trump administration announced it was looking into ways to address this issue, underscoring how suddenly these long-stalled conversations may be re-entering the national policy arena.

The throughline. You don’t always get what you want but sustained pressure and persistence  can move the needle.

Small Business Shout-Out: Bevel Coffee

This episode’s small business shout-out goes to Bevel Coffee, which is making steady progress on its first brick-and-mortar location on Allen, just up from Altadena Beverage. Until then, you can find Bevel on the patio at Prime Pizza
and at pop-ups and events all over town.  They’ve become a familiar and welcome presence in Altadena’s recovery and we’re cheering them on every step of the way. Follow their journey on Instagram @bevecoffee

One year after the Eaton Fire, the dust still hasn’t settled — literally or figuratively.

In this more emotionally raw episode of After the Ashes, co-hosts Shawna Dawson Beer and Stephen Sachs look back at the first 90 days after the fire. What was happening on the ground, what we understood then, how many solutions were proposed, and how many of today’s cascading failures were locked in during those earliest weeks.

We also name something that isn’t being talked about nearly enough: Year Two is a financial siege on fire survivors. Shawna has said repeatedly that Altadena residents are being “smoked out” — priced out, delayed out, and exhausted out of returning home. Steve adds we are being “starved out,” as the financial granaries that kept families afloat are depleted while rebuilding remains stalled for too many. 

This is our 27th episode and we cover:

• Where we each were during the first three months after the fire
• Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement of a new wildfire recovery fund and potential mortgage relief
• What's up with FEMA’s limited lead soil testing program, with results not expected until April
• The expanding environmental crisis across Altadena revealing itself 
• The complete absence of county oversight, post-remediation testing, or enforceable standards
• And the “cowboy” cleanup economy, where contaminated soil and debris are being hauled from site to site across our community with little to no monitoring

With responsibility now clearly established, this episode marks our continued shift away from blame and toward solutions — the ones we’ve been advocating for since day one and the new ones we're going to need as Altadena enters its second year after the fire — and how we can continue to be our own best advocates. Steve also shares how the emotional weight of this year has finally caught up to him, prompting a rare pause from his usually relentless daily writing on AltaPolicyWonk.

This isn’t a light listen but it’s an important one. The section on how toxic soil is being moved around Altadena unchecked is worth the time all on its own.

Small Business Shout-Out: Sidecca

We close every episode by uplifting a local business, and this week it’s Sidecca, the beloved clothing and gift shop at Mariposa Junction (Mariposa & Lake). They had just celebrated their reopening when they were hit again by water damage after the recent rains. If you love Altadena style, thoughtful gifts, and community rooted businesses, Sidecca is another one to support. Follow them on Instagram @sidecca. Donate via their GoFundMe if you can. And don’t miss the beautiful new mural currently going up at their storefront

This is our second episode of the new year, and the second of two back-to-back recordings made during the one-year anniversary week of the Eaton Fire. We begin shifting back into deeper policy conversations, asking one of the most important questions of all: did it have to go this way and does it still have to?

Steve takes us through a deeper dive into the financing options for the $20 billion rebuild of Altadena and other fire-impacted communities. Options that existed then and still exist now. We revisit the “Marshall Plan” Governor Newsom called for in January 2025 and ask why so little of that bold rhetoric translated into meaningful recovery on the ground.

We also dig into two major reports that dropped during the anniversary week. The House Judiciary Committee report on where the $100 million in FireAid concert funds actually went, and the Milken Institute report on the roughly $1 billion in philanthropic dollars distributed in the name of fire survivors. The findings are sobering but not suprising. Very little of that money ever made it into the hands of people who lost their homes and lives in the fires.

We also discuss Governor Newsom’s announcement this week of $107 million in grants for affordable housing for fire survivors. Despite the headlines, none of that funding was awarded to projects in Altadena, raising serious questions about how recovery dollars are being distributed. 

This week’s coverage also included a major spotlight for this podcast itself. We were featured on KCRW’s Press Play with Madeleine Brand, discussing the anniversary and the ongoing fight for accountability and resources for fire survivors.

Small Business Shout Out
 
Rather than a traditional small business shout-out this week, Shawna takes a moment to highlight the brands — from small businesses to major corporations — that have truly shown up for fire survivors and earned real brand loyalty in the process. A full list will be published soon on Substack, so keep an eye out for that.

And a quick production note: Episodes 25 and 26 were recorded on January 8 and would have landed a little sooner, but Shawna decided to get wild and sprained a wrist this week. A reminder that even when you’re chasing accountability and rebuilding a community, life still finds a way to slow you down!

Thanks for being here as we keep asking the hard questions and keep pushing for better answers.

New year, new season. We had planned to be on hiatus this week. But as the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire arrived, so did a flood of media coverage, public events, and major developments that made it clear we needed to get back into the studio. We recorded two back-to-back episodes, that both run a little long — just under an hour — so thank you, as always, for staying with us.

We open with a wide-ranging media roundup, as Altadena and the Eaton Fire were covered across nearly every major outlet imaginable. We focus on a few key pieces that included quotes from Steve and/or me, including coverage in the Los Angeles Times, Politico, and The Economist and talk through what that attention means for our community and for the larger accountability fight.

We also share our own writing and reflections on the one-year anniversary, and review several of the major events that marked the day. We discuss the county’s official anniversary event at Grocery Outlet, which brought out a familiar lineup for speeches and photo ops, followed by the deeply moving community vigil organized by Altadena Rising at Fair Oaks Burger, which offered a far more grounded and meaningful moment of remembrance.

Earlier that day, I was in the Palisades speaking on behalf of Altadena at the “They Let Us Burn” rally, alongside Westside fire survivors who, like so many in Altadena, have become organizers out of necessity, working without funding out of their own pockets. The rally featured speakers including Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt (who announced his run for mayor against Karen Bass there) and former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Interesting bedfellows to say the least. 

We also talk about the growing visibility and actions of the Altadena for Accountability coalition, including the banner drop at the Rose Parade, the community-centered message at the Altadena Forever Run, and a quiet but powerful silent demonstration at the Grocery Outlet anniversary event.

And we touch on the role of state leadership during the anniversary week. Governor Gavin Newsom did travel to Southern California for the one-year mark of the fires, but did not appear in either Altadena or the Palisades, instead attending a tightly controlled, closed-door event away from the communities still living with the consequences of what happened.

We close the episode with an unplanned and emotional conversation about the ongoing toll this fire continues to take, as our community mourns yet another life lost. Even a year later, the impacts of January 7 are not behind us. They are just unfolding.

Small Business Shout-Out

This week’s small business shout-out is a little different. Instead of featuring just one spot, I direct listeners to a comprehensive guide I created covering Altadena’s restaurants and food businesses, along with several closely connected, fire-impacted businesses outside of Altadena 

On our last episode before we head into a holiday hiatus and the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, Episode 24 takes another look at the question many in the community keep asking: where is the money going. We revisit the role of philanthropy in the fire recovery digging into the oft nebulous world of fiscal sponsorship. We talk about what happens when transparency is thin, accountability is diffuse, and organizations begin to show strain. Shrinking budgets, stalled programs, and in some cases, folding altogether. Steadfast LA enters the chat with a Steadfast Altadena chapter. What does that mean for local recovery efforts, governance, and influence? Plus, we unpack last night’s County Town Hall with first responders—a meeting that was barely promoted, sparsely attended (less than 10 people total). What does meaningful engagement look like nearly a year after disaster, and why does the community continue to be left out of the conversation?

Instead of our usual small business shout-out, we close this episode with a comprehensive rundown of events planned for the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire on January 7. Find the full list and details in the notes section of the Beautiful Altadena Substack.

This episode isn’t about stirring outrage it’s about taking stock. Before the anniversary. Before the next phase of recovery. Before the narrative gets rewritten without the people who lived it. Rest up and take care of yourselves. We’ll see you on the other side of the break with new episodes on January 13, 2026. 

Episode 23 of After the Ashes arrives in the season of light and at a moment when much of what we’ve been saying here for months is finally breaking into the broader news cycle. As Hanukkah begins this week, we reflect on what it means to light the candles this time of year. We move through a wide-angle media roundup—from national coverage echoing long-standing warnings, to Emecka of Rhythms of the Village on the cover of Inc. Magazine, to year-end conversations shaping how Altadena’s story is being told beyond the neighborhood. We also discuss what remains absent from much of that coverage, including the harder realities that resist seasonal framing.

We break down the recent County EIFD meeting on the new CRD and growing community pushback around governance without meaningful oversight or public input. We dip back into the issues brewing with our water mutuals, including a Las Flores Water Co shareholder meeting cancelled at the last minute and the quiet accumulation of power going on behind the scenes. 

We close with this episode’s Small Business Shout-Out: Little Red Hen, Altadena’s oldest running Black woman-owned business, operating continuously since 1946. Despite decades of service, community recognition, and media visibility, rebuilding after the fire remains uncertain. If you are able, please consider giving to Little Red Hen’s GoFundMe to support their rebuilding efforts, and follow @littleredhen_altadena on Instagram for updates and the latest. 

Housing chaos, policy puzzles, missing money, the one nonprofit you truly have to hear to believe, and will there be a 2026 Beautiful Altadena calendar—Episode 22 has it all.

We kick off the episode with the real estate roller coaster gripping our post-fire communities: homes in Altadena clocking in at $1,000 per square foot and the Palisades market sinking 40%. Whether rising or plummeting, the numbers tell a story of a housing market still trying to find its post-fire equilibrium. We break down this year’s extensive LA Times coverage—a series of articles that investigate what's going on but never quite name the larger systemic story lurking beneath. Next, we revisit the Climate Resiliency District (CRD) now being proposed for the Palisades. But unlike Altadena, where the CRD was effectively dropped from above, Palisades residents are at least getting a $300,000 exploratory committee to understand what they’re signing up for. We also dust off one of Steve’s classics from the AltaPolicyWonk Substack: the golf course debacle and the the big decisions that get made behind closed doors. And speaking of accountability… there’s a new investigation into the FireAid funds, and—spoiler alert—it appears very little of that money made its way to actual fire victims. 

And yes—this is our first shorter episode since October, and honestly, we’re proud of ourselves. You're welcome. 

Our Small Biz Shoutout this week may be the wildest yet: Only Philanthropy. Think OnlyFans, but every dollar raised goes directly to fire victims. Their tagline“Using the Male Gaze to Fight the Blaze” is as unforgettable as their mission. Learn more on their website or follow them on social at @onlyphilanthropy.

Recorded December 9, Episode 21 takes listeners through a pivotal week in our community’s recovery and resilience. We begin the episode with a milestone worth celebrating: the first homes rebuilt in both Altadena and the Palisades, but there's always more to the story. Then we turn to local spirit with a recap of the 105th Christmas Tree Lane lighting—a tradition that refuses to dim no matter how dark the year. Our media roundup pulls no punches, even if much of the press seems intent on that status quo. We look at Governor Newsom’s failed push in Washington for additional CDBG-DR funds, and the quieter but far more consequential story: his veto of AB 797, a decision that could have eased financial pressure for fire-impacted communities like Altadena and the Palisades months ago but would have shifted control away from those intent on keeping it.

And in a preview of next week’s deep dive, we open the door to one of the most urgent emerging issues: Altadena's water districts. Specifically, we highlight the Las Flores Water Company’s special meeting this Thursday, December 11 at the Altadena Library, where they’ll discuss the proposed “Fire Recovery Charge”—a fee expected to hit at least $3,000 per household. What’s happening, why it matters, and what it could mean for residents starts here.

This week’s Small Biz Shoutout goes to Cleo’s Critter Care—a local gem with an incredible story. Follow Cleo’s journey and her search for a new home on Instagram @cleoscrittercare and show some love to those who give so much to our community with her GoFundMe as she looks for a new location post-fire.